Subway, Carrara & Glass Tile Bathroom – St. Petersburg, FL.

Over the summer we did a custom master bathroom with 3″x6″ subway tile shower and wainscot, 18×18 white Carrara marble bathroom floor and a mixed 3/4″ glass mosaic shower floor and niche. The homeowner recently finished the bathroom with paint, cabinets, plumbing fixtures and a glass enclosure. I thought I would blog about it since it’s one beautiful master bathroom. I met with the homeowners to look at what they had going on so I could give the proper estimate. I went over several things I noticed that were not correct with what they had built so far and told them how I would correct them if I did the shower. They had other tile contractors look at the project but they were impressed with my visit, what I pointed out that was wrong, what things I suggested to them to make the tile job look better and my knowledge of the tile trade. After submitting my bid I got a call in a week awarding me the project. I scheduled the job and started when all materials were in.

After the cement board was installed on the walls & floors we did the shower mud bed using Laticrete 3701 Fortified Mortar bed mix and used the divot method with a clamping ring drain. We also installed a pre formed niche that the owner had already purchased. We then mesh taped the cement board joints and started the Laticrete Hydro Barrier waterproofing using the required fabric in all corners. We did 3 coats of the Hydro Barrier over the period on the waterproofing day applying it to the shower walls, shower floor and shower curb. The next morning we covered the waterproofed show pan with a drop cloth and did the layout for the 3×6 subway tile. We made sure we were able to get near full tile in the corners and also have the bullnose line up with the field tile. We also were doing a 4′ wainscot around the room with the same tile with a chair rail cap at the top. So the layout of corners along with the chair rail had to be planned carefully. Once layout was done we mixed up some Laticrete 4XLT non sag thinset and started setting wall tile in the shower and shower ceiling area.

The 3×6 subway tile, bullnose cap & cove base they selected was all American Olean “Profiles” #25 Ice White. While doing the wall tile we also tiled the niche and made some custom niche shelves and also made 2 corner shelves for the shower. You can see how we made them in the blog we did, “Making a Carrara Marble Soap & Niche Shelf“. After finish setting all of the wall tile in the shower, shower ceiling and the wainscot with the cove base we started setting the glass tile in the back of the niche and the shower floor. The tile that the homeowners selected was TA810 M China Blend from Hakatai. They picked the China Blend because it has some soft whites and some grays which match the Carrara marble gray/white and also the white subway tile. The glass tile was great to work with and very well made which made for a great final product. Once the shower floor was set we installed the marble shower curb and then had to fix a small dip in the rooms corner with SLC. We used a Laticrete self leverler and primed the floor prior the pouring the SLC with the primer. We like using it since its a rapid setting SLC and drys within 3-4 hours and we can start floor layout on the diagonal 18×18 Carrara marble.

After setting all of the 18×18 Carrara marble tile on the floor, the 3×6 subway tile on the shower walls, ceiling and wainscot and the 3/4″x3/4″ glass tile on the shower floor and back of niche all with Laticrete thinsets it was grouting time the following day. The grout I recommended to the the homeowners and they selected was Laticrete SpectraLock grout in white. They wanted a superior stain resistant, stain proof grout and that is what the SpectraLock does. The grouting went good but it wasn’t an easy job. SpectraLock is an easy epoxy grout to use but it still isn’t as easy as a regular cement grout. We second washed the light haze off the wall and floor tile and then started doing the final touches on the job to polish it up. One was the caulking all corners in the shower and room vertical and horizontal. Then I removed the protective cap and installed the Ebbe chrome drain grate that will match the bathroom fixtures. The Ebbe drain is a nice and cost effective upgrade on a shower drain from a boring cheap looking round drain with a white pvc edge that shows. One more final rinse of all the tile and we turned the finished job over to the homeowners.

I recently received final pictures of the master bathroom from the homeowners.

What do you recommend in the way of tile grout that will not absorb stains and discolor? I find I have a problem with staining the grout between my tiles and it creeps me out. Should I replace it with an an Epoxy like SpectraLock that you used on this job ??